What do I need to become a dealer at a coin show?

Yeah I might try that, just to test the waters and see how everything works out. It was recommended that I have a $3,00-$5,000 stock budget to start so I think I'll put together a mock setup before I go out and buy all the stuff.

 

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Spending all of this time and money to build a nice coin case, and doing all this work for probably very little if any profit...are you sure you aren't doing all this just as a way to meet women?

Which isn't a bad idea by the way.

 

Even before all that effort, call the show sponsors and ask if they will rent a table to someone 15 years old, and whether the table-holder's sales and purchases are enforceable? I don't think they will rent you a table, period.

Your State's laws probably prohibit minors signing contracts. For good reason.

 

If you want to meet women, go volunteer at a big church that has a lot of outreach services, like child care or food pantry or tax prep or after-school sheltering/tutoring.

The ratio might be 6 or 8 women to one (guy), but more importantly, you can observe how your fav treats the poor long before you make a move.

The best women have charitable impulses, at least until they're in the driver's seat. Been there, done that.

 

What's the differences between women and being a coin show dealer?

Ok unmmmmm thanks I guess. I don't really think my type of girl are there (which is a teenager) but thanks for the heads up.

 

On the contrary (my pastor says), they get a LOT of teen volunteers, because it's sort of like social media without the electronics.

 

"What's the differences between women and being a coin show dealer?"

The size and placement of the presentation.

 

Diamonds vs. Gold.

 

Wait. Meet women? At a coin show?!? Man, I gotta get me to the coin shows YOU go to.

 

Sully,

You sure are full of who-know-what and vinegar, aren't you? You need to develop a little more GottaStudy and a little less NowNowNow. I'm 60, have been very actively collecting since 1963, and I don't believe I'm ready to be a dealer. On another thread we learned you are a "fill holes cheap with lesser quality coins" type of guy. You are sooooo unprepared to be a dealer, sir.

All that said, read The Numismatist (you BETTER be an ANA member!!!) and avail yourself of EVERY numismatic scholarship offer you ever see. Get a scholarship to the Summer Seminar in Colorado. Write articles for other scholarship offers. Real young people get paid internships fairly often in this field. Go that route first. Here's the best advice an old man can offer - ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS, in person, not over the Internet. Go to major shows, attend talks, ask questions, and here's MY Yogi quote - "You can observe a lot, just by watching."

This is a people business, first and foremost. My son is 20, and I have been schlepping his behind to ANA conventions since he was your age (Boston, 2010). He once noticed, "you don't buy much at ANA shows, for you it's mostly 'social' and you work the social angle HARD". Bingo!

 

Yeah I guess I am the get stuff done as soon as possible type. I am an ANA member and went out to Colorada on a school ship in June. Currently I don't really have the ability to go to big national shows, and I just moved so I lost all the ties I had with my old coin club but I am working on finding a new one.

 

If you REALLY have to ask this, you are much too young to be a coin dealer.




Hint:

The women are the soft ones.

 

Soft, yet firm.

 

Progression from what? What have you honestly accomplished at this point in time? Have you become an expert, or even reasonably knowledgeable in certain areas to the point where you can be of value to your customers? Have you been working hard at building business relationships with other "dealers" and/or slowly building up a quality starter inventory? Do a few eBay sales really warrant this "natural progression"? I understand that at the ripe old age of 15, a month or three can feel like an eternity, but the reality is that it is no time at all, so please don't tell us that youve put in the necessary "work" to go from complete novice interested only in profits to an experienced "dealer" or "expert" ready to conquer what you see as the next level. The sooner you accept that you've a lot still to learn, just as we all do at times, the better off you'll be.

You say this question isn't like the ones before, so perhaps you could explain what the great differences are. What, in your vast experience, makes being a "show dealer" different from your past questions about being a dealer in general? The reason a few are coming down on you is because your naivete shines through loud and clear; A show dog is still a dog, Sully, and the very SAME things apply... YOU need to know YOUR market, be it with your eBay sales, setting up at a small show, or what-have-you. While generic or general recommendations can and have been made, no one is going to be able to say that, without question, if you do this or that you will make money; it is just not that easy. This business isn't simply if you offer it they will come, and dropping $3000-$5000 on "inventory" just to have something to fill a case is a recipe for disaster. You say I cannot "prove" you didn't take past advice to heart, but seemingly fail to realize that you've already provided that proof all on your own.

I see no reason to continue to rehash what has already been said repeatedly, and I'm sorry if what I and some others have said wasn't what you wanted to hear, but perhaps one day you'll understand it was for your own good. As with the last go-round, I certainly wish you the best of luck with your little endeavor.

 

I thought there was some funny coin collector answer to this.

Ok thanks for sharing I guess.

 

I thought I saw a woman once at a coin show, perhaps it was just a mirage.

 

To dovetail on this wonderful advice, there is a key problem at work here. You do not know what you do not know. The first of many steps is to be self-aware enough to know what it is you don't know. IOW, you need to learn the questions before even thinking about the answers. And the questions you need to have in mind are NOT "what" and "how" questions. You have several of those. You need to get to "why" questions before you become a Jedi .... Oops, wrong speech.

This process is not a logic algorithm, even a complex one with multiple levels of conditional branches. This is dripping with nuanced people skills that can only be learned by being heavily mentored and experiencing them. The way you have started, on eBay, is a fine start. You need to let that flower garden grow before putting in 500 acres of genetically modified hybridized Monsanto corn seed varieties. Too many analogies? Sorry. Ask yourself what could possibly go wrong, and write down all of those worst case scenarios. Until you have a plan to mitigate those nightmares, to the point that they are not fatal to your business, you're not ready.

There's a reason so many dealers are fairly wealthy older folks. Think about why that is.

 

I, at no point said that I wanted to do this in the near future. I want it to be something to build up to by building inventory and knowlage. I am not an expert in anything right now, but that's why I am asking questions, so I can learn. I am slowly building up my collection over time. eBay sales show that I am trying the thing that were said and taking them to heart. I've been working hard to learn as much as I could in that time. I know I still need to learn, that's why I am asking questions. Being a show dealer is fairly different. On eBay you just take a few pictures and write a description and throw it up. At a show you need to worry about how to set up your table, how much money you should bring, being personable and a slew of other factors. I understand there is no perfect plan that anyone will be able to tell me and it work. However, the recommendations help me along the way. Also what is that proof that I didn't take what was said to heart. I provide it apparently but what is it?

 

Regarding your initial case construction - DO IT! But think of it as a presentation / exhibit case more than a sales case. It might be worth several points in a competitive exhibit circumstance. A multi coated reflection reducing glass will add cost, but also add utility, regardless of purpose.